Pietermaritzburg Stadium Opens

A new stadium has been completed in Pietermaritzburg. The stadium won't be uised for any games during the World Cup, but locals are hoping to lure teams to the city to use the new facility as a training ground.

The stadium is one of several legacy projects for 2010 and can be used for training by any of the visiting World Cup teams, said KwaZulu-Natal cooperative governance MEC Nomusa Dube.

“We are currently lobbying a number of teams to locate in the province for the World Cup,” Dube said.

R85m stadium opens in Pietermaritzburg
Sowetan
February 8, 2010

World Cup Teams Must Decide Home Bases By End of Month

With few days remaining before the January 31 deadline, host cities like Tshwane are hopeful that teams will select their accommodations and training facilities ahead of the World Cup.

The City of Tshwane has already approved a total of seven base camp facilities. One such facility is the High Performance Centre in Hatfield, attached to the University of Pretoria, which Argentina inspected on Monday as their potential base camp.

Another one is the Southdown's College used by Italy during the FIFA Confederations Cup last year. HM Pitje Stadium in Mamelodi, Caledonian Stadium, Pilditch Stadium, Laudium Stadium and Eersterus Sport Stadium are the other five sports facilities that can be used by teams wishing to stay in Tshwane.

Deadline looms for 2010 base camp choices
BizCommunity
January 20, 2010

Cities Compete to Play Home Base to Teams

The cities and regions of South Africa are competing to play a second tour of hosting duties -- this time as temporary home bases for World Cup competitors during the tournament. While Cape Town and the Western Cape in general are already in the sights of many teams, geographic realities may stop some teams from making the region their base.

But the Western Cape was forced to lobby against two factors over which it had no control: altitude and rainfall.

"Some teams are very determined to be training at altitude because they believe they must if they want to win the World Cup final which is in Johannesburg, even though the two semi-finals will be held at sea level," Platzky said at an investor breakfast in Cape Town on Thursday.

Call for 2010 teams to use Cape as home base
Independent Online
November 27, 2009